Facebook’s strict “real name” policy is having an inadvertent effect on some Native American users, who are being banned from the service because the social media giant thinks their names are fake, according to a report from Colorlines.

Colorlines details several instances in which users with Native American names have been locked out of their accounts, with the social network demanding to see proof of ID before they are allowed back on the platform.

Facebook requires users to log in with the “name they use in real life,” though not necessarily their legal names. The rule is intended to clamp down on anonymous pseudonyms and role-playing accounts that impersonate or pretend to be other people.

Lone Hill was forced to submit multiple pieces of ID to the network in an attempt to regain access to her account and says she “received a generated message to be patient while they investigate to see if I am a real person.” Her account was finally restored after almost a week of waiting.

After her experience, she asked around, and discovered many of her friends have also been banned over their names:

One friend was forced to change his name from his Cherokee alphabet to English. Another was forced to include her full name, and a few were forced to either smash the two word last names together or omit one of the two words in the last name.

In one incident, Ogala Lakota Brown Eyes was removed from the service, and when he provided ID “they changed his name to Lance Brown,” Lone Hill writes. It took the threat of a class-action lawsuit for him to be able to use his real name again.

Creepingbear now has special “administrative protection” on his account, preventing another incident — but this is only because he had a contact at the social network. The vast majority of Native American Facebook users don’t have these protections, and remain at risk.

A Facebook spokesperson told Colorlines that they have made “significant improvements” over the last few months, “including enhancing the overall experience and expanding the options available for verifying an authentic name.”

However, Facebook admits it has “more work to do” and its teams “will continue to prioritise these improvements so everyone can be their authentic self on Facebook.”

Still, many offended users moved to Ello, an alternative social network that has no such rule in place.

At the time, Cox wrote that the policy “has never been to require everyone on Facebook to use their legal name. The spirit of our policy is that everyone on Facebook uses the authentic name they use in real life.”

NOW WATCH: Tech Insider videos

Want to read a more in-depth view on the trends influencing Australian business and the global economy? BI / Research is designed to help executives and industry leaders understand the major challenges and opportunities for industry, technology, strategy and the economy in the future. Sign up for free at research.businessinsider.com.au.